The Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott said in an interview with the podcast “Rockonteurs With Gary Kemp And Guy Pratt” that he is tired of people calling them a Heavy Metal band. According to the musician that usually happens with people who are involved with that kind of music and known nothing about Rock and Roll. So they tend to call everything Heavy Metal.
Joe Elliott says he is tired of people calling Def Leppard a Heavy Metal band
“(Transcribed by Blabbermouth) I have an issue with the term ‘heavy metal’ because everybody outside of rock always thinks if you’re a heavy metal band, it’s like bad news… You get this impression that everybody’s a moron.
“(AC/DC) were a blues rock band. UFO and Thin Lizzy were not heavy metal. Motörhead, even they had a blues influence to them… Queen were never a heavy metal band, but they had a couple of heavy metal songs, thanks to Brian May. And I think we were pretty much the same way. It was rock — absolutely heavy rock, for sure.”
“You listen to our first EP (from 1979), there’s a song called ‘Ride Into The Sun’, which is a total pop song. But then ‘(Get Your) Rocks Off’ was a, full-on rock song.
“If we’re heavy metal, then so are The Rolling Stones, ’cause it’s two guitars, bass, drums and a singer. It’s a silly, silly term, I like ‘rock’. When you start pigeonholing, it gets on my tits, to be quite honest. Because can’t we just all be just a rock band or a pop band or be both?” Joe Elliott said.
Def Leppard was formed in Sheffield, England in 1976 and their only original member is the bassist Rick Savage. The classic formation was being formed over the years, with the singer Joe Elliott joining them in 1977, the late guitarist Steve Clark in 1978, the drummer Rick Allen in 1978 and the guitarist Phil Collen in 1982.
Releasing their best-selling albums in the 80s, the band became one of the most influential from that decade. They sold an estimated amount of more than 100 million records worldwide. In 2024 the group is currently touring with names like Journey, Heart and Steve Miller Band.